Even if the 2022 League of Legends World Championship is still going on, fans and experts are already considering how to make it better in the future.
Popular LCS broadcaster Mark “MarkZ” Zimmerman, for instance, has proposed a very extreme change to the tournament’s format by eliminating the play-in stage entirely and replacing it with a huge group stage that includes all 24 teams competing in the event. According to MarkZ’s proposal, Worlds may begin with each team being divided into four groups of six and play out a single round-robin best-of-one type phase of the competition rather than having a play-in stage.
The top three teams from each group might then be placed into a double-elimination bracket, with the top two teams from each group going into the upper bracket and the four third-place teams waiting for their opponents in the lower bracket. This would be an example of a knockout stage.
In addition, MarkZ said that while the play-in and group stages typically last 14 broadcast days, the group stage would only take about 10 days under his new system if six games were played each day. Additionally, rather than merely competing against other minor regions in play-ins, growing regions like Brazil and Oceania would have the opportunity to compete against multiple major area teams.
LCK caster Maurits “Chronicler” Jan Meeusen expressed his support for MarkZ’s proposal, stating that adding all minor and major region teams to the stage would not only give minor region teams more experience playing against renowned organizations but also help reduce the “a lot” of play-ins that are currently scheduled.
This would also increase excitement and viewership because there would be a mix of minor area teams and large region matches instead of fans having to sit through a week of seeing teams like Royal Never Give Up and DRX “slam” several minor region teams.
If you care about viewership, which is a fair thing to do, just start the tournament
MarkZ